Japanese/Grammar/Transitivity

Many Japanese verbs have pairs of transitive and intransitive verbs. Formally, the difference between these is that a transitive verb can take on a direct object, whereas an intransitive verb can not. There are a few pairs of distinct verbs in English that correlate to this: "raise"/"rise", "fell"/"fall" and "lay"/"lie".

This is best explained by example. Contrast the following two sentences:

English

Verb

Japanese

Transitive

(I) close the door.

閉める (しめる)

ドアを閉める。

Intransitive

The door closes.

閉まる (しまる)

ドアが閉まる。

Transitive

The teacher starts the class.

始める (はじめる)

先生が授業を始める。

Intransitive

The class starts.

始まる (はじまる)

授業が始まる。

Transitive

The sun melts the ice.

溶かす（とかす）

太陽が氷を溶かす。

Intransitive

The ice melts.

溶ける（とける）

氷が溶ける。

The general patterns for transitive and intransitive sentences is:

(<subject> は/が)

<direct object> を/が

<transitive verb>。

<subject> が

<intransitive verb>。

The topics of intransitive verbs are usually inanimate.

Some pairings are listed in the following table:

自動詞(じどうし) (intransitive verb)

他動詞(たどうし) (transitive verb)

-eru → -asu

to go out

出(で)る deru

出(だ)す dasu

to get out

to escape

逃(に)げる nigeru

逃(にが)す nigasu

to let escape

to melt

溶(と)ける tokeru

溶(と)かす tokasu

to melt something

to wither

枯(か)れる kareru

枯(か)らす karasu

to let wither

-eru → -yasu

to increase (by self)

増える fueru

増やす fuyasu

to increase (something else)

to cool down (by self)

冷える hieru

冷やす hiyasu

to cool something down

to grow

生える haeru

生やす hayasu

to grow something

-iru → -osu

to wake up

起きる okiru

起こす okosu

to wake somebody up

to get off

降りる oriru

降ろす orosu

to offload

to fall

落ちる ochiru

落とす otosu

to let fall

to elapse (time)

過ぎる sugiru

過ごす sugosu

to spend (time)

-u → -asu

to decline

減る heru

減らす herasu

to decrease something

to boil

沸く waku

沸かす wakasu

to bring something to a boil

to dry (self)

乾く kawaku

乾かす kawakasu

to dry something

to be glad

喜ぶ yorokobu

喜ばす yorokobasu

to cheer somebody

-u → -eru

to get open

開く aku

開ける akeru

to open something

to reach

届く todoku

届ける todokeru

to deliver

to grow up

育つ sodatsu

育てる sodateru

to rear

to stand

立つ tatsu

立てる tateru

to stand up

-ru → -seru

to board

乗る noru

乗せる noseru

to let board

to approach

寄る yoru

寄せる yoseru

to let near

-ru → -su

to return

返る kaeru

返す kaesu

to bring back

to go through

通る tōru

通す tōsu

to let through

to turn (by self)

回る mawaru

回す mawasu

to turn something

to get repaired

直る naoru

直す naosu

to repair

to cross

渡る wataru

渡す watasu

to bring to the other side

-reru → -su

to break up

離れる hanareru

離す hanasu

to separate

to disengage

外れる hazureru

外す hazusu

to release

to tumble

倒れる taoreru

倒す taosu

to overthrow

to become dirty

汚れる yogoreru

汚す yogosu

to dirty

to appear

現れる arawareru

現す arawasu

to let appear

to get broken

壊れる kowareru

壊す kowasu

to break

-aru → -eru

to be decided

決まる kimaru

決める kimeru

to decide

to close

閉まる shimaru

閉める shimeru

to close something

to gather

集まる atsumaru

集める atsumeru

to collect

to begin

始まる hajimaru

始める hajimeru

to begin something

to be found

見付かる mitsukaru

見付ける mitsukeru

to find something

to hang

掛かる kakaru

掛ける kakeru

to hang something up

to be saved

助かる tasukaru

助ける tasukeru

to save

-waru → -eru

to change (yourself)

変わる kawaru

変える kaeru

to change something

to join

加わる kuwawaru

加える kuwaeru

to add

-eru → -u

to burn

焼ける yakeru

焼く yaku

to burn something

to be sold

売れる ureru

売る uru

to sell

to come out

抜ける nukeru

抜く nuku

to draw out

to come loose

解ける hodokeru

解く hodoku

to loosen

to be visible

見える mieru

見る miru

to see

others

to be audible

聞こえる kikoeru

聞く kiku

to hear

to extinguish

消える kieru

消す kesu

to delete

to enter

入る hairu

入れる ireru

to put in

to end

終わる owaru

終える／終わる oeru/owaru

to end something

to become

なる naru

する suru

to do

The rule of thumb is that intransitive verbs usually take nouns with the particles 「が」(ga) or 「は」(wa) that act as subjects, whereas transitive verbs take object nouns marked with 「を」(o). Transitive verbs can also take a ga-subject or wa-subject, although it may be omitted. Note that some intransitive verbs can take an o-object that indicates a location. For example, 出る ("to leave") can be used with a direct object that is a location from which the subject is to leave from.
See the table below for more examples: